defense mechanism

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

For Divon, Pallywood is less a conspiracy theory than a psychological defense mechanism.

From Slate • May 30, 2025

I think it’s sort of her defense mechanism — if I get there first, no one can get to it before me.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 21, 2024

Scientists believe that algae use bioluminescence as a defense mechanism — to scare off hungry sea creatures or call attention to their location, which draws the predators’ predators.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 30, 2024

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids likely first evolved as a defense mechanism in plants, which then became a commodity for moths.

From Science Daily • Apr. 22, 2024

The therapist Mark and Linda made him see had called it a defense mechanism, and Joaquin thought that sounded exactly like something that someone who never needed a defense mechanism would say.

From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway